Named in 1918. McPhail, Norman R. (A member of the Surveyor General''s staff, Corporal McPhail was killed in action in 1917 while serving with the Canadian Field Artillery. His parents lived in Carleton Place, Ontario at the time.) Official name. Other names Pyramid, The (from peakfinder.com)

Kaycie and I set up a lovely bivy camp just under the small lake sitting on top of the headwall guarding Weary Creek Gap between Mounts McPhail to the north and Muir to the south. After a few minutes I decided I needed to bag one more peak this day (we'd already backpacked over Mount Muir that morning). Mount McPhail's huge south scree face had been calling my name ever since I first glimpsed it from Mount MacLaren a few days previous. Now that we were sitting right under it, it seemed wrong not to at least give it a shot! Mount McPhail is the southernmost Divide peak in the Elk Range of the Rockies - Mount Muir being the northernmost member of the High Rock Range.

[This photo, taken on descent, shows the easy line on McPhail's south aspect. Simply ascent from lower left to upper right, staying left of the light colored gully lower down and trending to the smallest cliff bands higher up. Red is the easy and purple is the line that avoids the approach trail by going around the north side of the lake, lower down.]

[The outlet of the lake can be problematic to cross if you don't get lucky to find it on approach (I spent some time hunting around for it and there is an easy crossing about 1/4 way down the outflow). No worries though - simply stay north of the pond and follow the purple line. Nugara's moderate line goes straight up cliff bands to climber's left of mine.]

I knew the south face couldn't be too difficult since Matt did it and doesn't like exposure, but it looked intimidating from Mount Muir and as I peered up at it from below. I decided to get my nose in it and see what transpired. After re-ascending the trail towards Weary Creek Gap from our bivy, I veered north towards the lower south facing scree slope, grunting my way up easy grassy slopes under a pretty intense summer sun. Once again, smoke wasn't an issue. I felt great to be carrying a very light pack and soon I was trending my way climber's right up the face, working my way up to a visible line of low cliffbands high above me.

[McPhail's lower south slopes are open grass. Nugara's route comes in from above the lake so it avoids this nice grassy slope.]

[Great views back over Weary Creek towards Muir and the Gap at right. ++]

[This is the rubble-fest on McPhail's south face. You can't avoid it so best deal with it!]

Before long I was alongside a pretty recent scree slide / gully on the face. I stayed climber's left of this feature and started having fun working my way up and over many small cliff bands which got larger the higher I went, but always with easy breaks. Nugara calls this area of the Rockies some of the worst scree slogs, and Matt definitely agreed with him on that count! I didn't find any of the scree that bad but maybe that says more about me - I need to get out on more solid rock once in a while! :P I will say that there is a lot of scree on McPhail!

Near the summit I wasn't sure if the terrain would remain "easy" scrambling. It mostly did. The McPhail scramble is certainly a much more difficult undertaking than something like Piran or Fairview, but mostly due to the looseness of the scree and the lack of a beaten trail to the top. Hikers or beginner scrambles will absolutely hate the scree. I was happy that KC took a pass on this particular peak. I blasted up the 750 vertical meters of the south face pretty quickly and within 1.5 hours of leaving our bivy I was enjoying the expansive summit views.

[Despite appearances, the cliff bands were all easy scrambling higher up with slight detours climber's left to avoid loose or exposed sections.]

[Bishop looks easy from this side with a beautiful little tarn to boot. Mountains in the distance include Loomis, Abruzzi, Joffre and Mist Mountain amongst many others that dot Highwood Pass and the Divide. ++]

[Great views of Lancaster, Connor, Abruzzi, Cadorna, Swiderski, Battisti and Stiletto - all very impressive peaks that don't get very much attention.]

[Mount Joffre looms over peaks like Aosta, Nivelle, De Gaulle, Castelnau and Ney with Petain to the right of that group. To the right is Mount Fox.]

Descent was quick despite some sections of annoying dinner plate scree and KC was pretty surprised to see me wander back into camp only 3 hours after leaving it. We enjoyed the rest of our evening reading books and looking for our exit down the headwall towards Lake of the Horns the following day. I really enjoyed Mount McPhail and the Weary Creek Gap area. This area certainly deserves the attention of any Alberta Rockies peakbagger or backpacker.

[Great views over Weary Creek and the Gap as I descend the south ridge. Our bivy at lower center just below the lake. ++]

[Impossible to see here, but our bivy is located just left of the lake and a bit below it.]

[Off the rubbly south aspect and back on heavenly grass! The alternate descent route on Muir is clearly visible to the left of the easy west ridge that we descended.]

[Looking back at Weary Creek Gap from the spot just above the lake where we found evidence of previous camps. We didn't like the exposure to the winds here, so we camped slightly below the lake instead.]

[The lake at the outlet of Weary Creek isn't a beauty like Carnarvon or Lake of the Horns, but it's pretty enough with McPhail as a backdrop, I suppose.]

[Back at our bivy, KC is engrossed in her book.]

[Gorgeous evening views over our bivy (L) and McPhail and down the headwall towards Hill of the Flowers. ++]

About Me

My name is Vern Dewit. I moved to Calgary, Alberta (Canada) in 1999 and since then I've fallen in love with the spectacular scenery and grand vistas that open up as you scramble up above treeline on a beautiful fall morning, or make your first cast on some back country stream as the sun throws its golden warmth on surrounding peaks.

Goal

I hope that my trip reports and pictures will inspire you to push your own physical limits whatever those may be. You may be inspired to try scrambling - a sport where you climb mountains via non-technical ascent routes - or you may simply realize what's in your own backyard and go for a short hike somewhere.

Disclaimer / Contact

Read the trip reports carefully and don't simply follow them blindly. Make sure you're within your abilities and if you have any questions don't hesitate to send me an email.